AAWLI 2017 Annual Meeting Highlights

If you missed the 2017 Annual Meeting for the Alumni Association of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute, don’t be discouraged! We have all the highlights for you here:

AAWLI 2017 Annual Meeting in Review

The 2017 Annual Meeting for the AAWLI met at the Naples Grande Beach Resort on August 3rd – 5th.

Approximately 150 attendees gathered in Naples on behalf of AAWLI!

Thank you again to all of our sponsors for the conference, including our presenting meeting sponsor, Pavese Law Firm!

Weekend in Review Video:

Highlights from the weekend include:

Incredible presentations from speakers such as Anthony Lafauce, Vice President of Digital Communications at Porter Novelli,Dr. Matthew Sowcik, Assistant Professor of Leadership Education at UF/IFAS,Mr. Matthew Johnston, Class II member and CEO of Vegetables at Syngenta, and Mr. Mike Joyner, Class I member and Assistant Commissioner for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services;

Expect to see day-by-day reviews with all of these highlights, photos, videos, and more in the days to come!

Our Alumni Association is fortunate to have an incredible Executive Board of Directors who all gave their time and energy over the course of the weekend. Thank you to our President Mr. Ray Royce (Class VII), Past President Mr. Sean Brantley (Class VII), Secretary Mrs. Lisa Lochridge (Class VII), and Treasurer Mr. Matthew Webb (Class VII) for leading and serving us as you all have!

Ray Royce, Class VII

Sean Brantley, Class VII

Lisa Lochridge, Class VII

Matthew Webb, Class VII

We would be remiss if we did not thank Dr. Hannah Carter, Program Director of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture & Natural Resources, for all of her hard work and behind-the-scenes assistance in this weekend’s events. Thank you, Dr. Carter, for continuing to serve the graduates of WLIANR!

Dr. Hannah Carter, WLIANR Program Director

Laurie Hurner, Class VII

Special thanks are due to former Alumni Coordinator Ms. Laurie Hurner (Class VII) for all of her volunteered time and services to make this weekend special! Thank you, Laurie, for continuing to serve your fellow alumni!

Many thanks are due to Susie Bishop (Class VIII) for her hard work organizing this year’s live and silent auctions! Thank you to Kevin Huesman (Class I) for volunteering his services (for the first time ever) as our auctioneer! Thank you to Ms. Amanda Taylor (Class VIII) and Ms. Alicia Taylor (Class X) for organizing this year’s Bobbing for Bourbon & Wine Pull!

The Live Auction raised – $ 16,000.00

The Silent Auction raised – $ 3,230.00

The Wine Pull & Bobbing for Bourbon raised – $ 1,120.00

Grand Total : $20,350.00

Susie Bishop, Class VIII

Kevin Huesman, Class I

Amanda Taylor, Class VIII

Alicia Taylor, Class X

Thank you to Mr. Gordon Yoder and Mr. Andrew Horvath for their photography and videography work over the course of the weekend. Alumni Coordinator Ms. Valerie McKee also managed all of our association’s social media accounts for the weekend. Photos and videos will be posted on our website and Facebook page. To see all of our posts from the weekend, look for our conference hashtag: #AAWLI17

The Media Room was generously sponsored by Genesis Timber. Thank you to Mr. Matthew Webb (Class VII) & Genesis Timber for their sponsorship!

Gordon Yoder, AAWLI Intern

Andrew Horvath, AAWLI Intern

Valerie McKee, Alumni Coordinator

Lastly, thank you again to our incredible event coordinator for this year’s annual meeting, Mrs. Lisa Ashley of Fusion Communications & Events, for making this weekend one to never forget!